Saturday, January 08, 2005

What we call news...

I was intrigued this week to find out that Key Lake, Saskatchewan, was the coldest place on earth at -52 C. Without a wind chill. With a wind chill, Meadow Lake, Sask, was over -60 C. You probably don't know that, because it didn't seem to make the news anywhere that I saw. There was a brief item on the National News about how cold it was on the Prairies, but it was in the context of how all of Canada is going through some strange weather.

What is surprising is that even on Saskatchewan websites, I couldn't find out much about the extreme weather. The local CBC newsite, and the various papers, didnt seem to have any big stories about it. Sure, I know it was cold, but how cold? Oh well. If any of you have any stories about how cold it has been, let me know. I know that there are a few of you out in Saskatchewan that read this blog from time to time. Tell the rest of us.

That's my point, I suppose. When the temperature drops here in southern Ontario, there is a lot of news. It affects the Go Trains, buses, people on the highways. That makes it big news. But in places like Sask, people just go about their business. I'm not sure that their cars are built differently, or their buses or trains, but they seem to keep working, anyway. Maybe it's a Prairie work ethic sort of thing...

Why am I telling you this? No reason really. I'm just feeling a little nostalgic about those winters I spent working and enjoying temperatures that went to levels unheard of around here.

UPDATE -- I did find some Sask news. Here's one.And while this one isn't about weather, it's quite a story!

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Hmm. Well as someone who grew up in Scarborough and has lived in the GTA her whole life, I probably don't speak only for myself when I say that bad weather (either freezing rain or the sort of bracing cold -25C cold that we get here at least) is the good excuse we use to get out of the grind.

I do a little test on myself sometimes..if I had this stuffed up nose and general grumpy feeling on a Saturday, would it stop me from going to the pub for a beer, or am I using it as an excuse to play hooky from work? Generally it's the second one, I feel guilty, and I go to work. Maybe Saskatchewaners simply have more fulfilling work lives?